[TowerTalk] Fwd: Connection Tower to ground rods

[HansLG at aol.com]

Hi Terry,
 
have to give you a comment here: We, my family, moved in to a 200 years old  
house 1997. In 1998 it was hit by lightning and bunt down to ground. We 
rebuilt  the house and, for obvious reasons, installed lightning rods. I decided, on 
my  own to use 3/4 in plumbing copper pipes for this installation. My 
reasoning was  that as the surface on the plumbing pipe is flat compared to the 
commonly used  braid the inductance would be lower and damages from a lightning  
strike less. I have six 8' rod around the house and a ring around the top  of 
the house. It is, kind of, a Faraday case.
 
It has now been "tested" three times (So much for a lightning never hit  
twice). The pitting in the plumbing rod at the places of the hits are  obvious. 
The discoloring was also a good sign. Nothing was damaged in the house  the 
first time. The second time all surge protectors were blow out. The third  time I 
had some limited damages on a telephone (that was lacking surge  protection). 
I am pretty sure two of the three hits were direct hits on the  house.
 
My answer is: Copper plumbing pipes are very useful as conductors for  
lightning protection. Needless to say you have to be sure that all connections  are 
tight.
 
Regards,
 
Hans N2JFS
 
 





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